Table of Contents
Matrix Primer
What's Your Grid? (p222, SR5)
Your grid is dictated by your lifestyle:
Low or Lower: Public Grid. All Matrix actions suffer a -2 penalty in the Public Grid.
Middle: Local Grid.
High: Global Grid.
Luxury: Any Grid you want.
Commlinks (p222, SR5)
Commlinks are your phone/computer/music player/gaming machine/book reader/entertainment center all rolled into one. If you're not a hacker, you're probably accessing the matrix via your commlink. The few matrix actions a non-hacker may be involved in are dependent on the data processing or firewall attributes of their commlink. These are equal to the device rating of the commlink.
Matrix Searches (p241, SR5)
(i.e., “googling”)
You search the Matrix for information on a topic. Roll Computer + Intuition [Data Processing].
The time it takes and the threshold of the test depend on the general availability of the information in question and the area (i.e. Grid) being searched.
| Matrix Search Table (p 241) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Information is: | Threshold | Time |
| General Knowledge or Public | 1 | 1 minute |
| Limited Interest or Not Publicized | 3 | 30 minutes |
| Hidden or Actively Hunted and Erased | 6 | 12 Hours |
| Protected or Secret | - | - |
| Information is: | Dice Pool Modifier | |
| Intricate or Specialized | -1 | |
| Obscure | -2 | |
| On Another Grid | -2 | |
Any hits above the threshold can be used to reduce the search time- divide base search time by number of hits to determine the time reduction. If you fail the test, you still spend the full base time looking, but find nothing.
Matrix Damage (p228, SR5)
Electronics suffer Matrix damage through the actions of hostile hackers, or as secondary damage when hit by electrical attacks.
Electronic devices have a Matrix Condition Monitor that functions just like any other physical condition monitor. A device's matrix condition monitor contains (8 + device rating/2) boxes, and is always resisted with device rating + firewall.
In lieu of a listed device rating, most gear you carry has a device rating of 2. Additionally, its firewall rating is equal to its device rating. So unless your gear is being protected by a personal PAN or your team's hacker's WAN, if it lacks a device rating you're rolling 4 dice on the device's matrix damage resistance test.
Unlike other condition monitors, there is no penalty for having matrix damage until the condition monitor is completely filled. Once it is, the device is bricked and cease to function.
Repairing Matrix Damage requires a tool kit, an hour of time, and a Hardware + Logic [Mental Limit] test. Every hit can be used to either repair one box of matrix damage or cut the required time in half. The first die spent toward reducing time reduces the time to half an hour, the second to 15 minutes, and so forth, to a minimum of one combat turn. Whether the device is bricked or not, it is offline and unusable while being repaired.
A critical glitch on this test permanently bricks the device, and you'll have to get a new one.